Happy January! This year, I'm going to be releasing one of these rankings per month. I have twelve genres lined up and am going to be ranking my ten favorites of those genres the rest of the year. I also will not have any movie appear twice on a list: Wicked and The Wizard of Oz are fantasy movies, but they counted as musicals on this list, so they will not appear on my fantasy list. That said, here are my ten favorite musical movies of all time.
10. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Willy Wonka will always have a special place in my heart. I used to be a theater kid, and I played Mike Teavee in a community theater version of this film. I have also always loved Roald Dahl stories, and his best is probably Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This film is a great adaptation with an incredible starring performance by Gene Wilder. It captures the fantasy and magic of the story while also giving a bit of a creepy undertone. The quirkiness of Roald Dahl meets the genius of Gene Wilder to give us an absolute classic.
Best Song: Pure Imagination
9. West Side Story
I don't really like the original West Side Story, but leave it to Spielberg to transform one of my least favorite movie musicals into one of my favorites. The 2021 remake feels like it outdoes the original in every way. First off, they actually cast actors and actresses of Latino descent in the Latino roles. Second off, Spielberg just brings a gravitas that outdoes the original. The story feels more emotional and intense. I think Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler, for all the controversies both of them have faced in the past few years, are really good in their respective roles. I just think this is a really solid movie, and I find it to be infinitely better than the original.
Best Song: Tonight
8. The Greatest Showman
I get the complaints that people have about The Greatest Showman, but I don't agree with them. Obviously this is not claiming to be a biopic about P.T. Barnum. This is clearly not based on real life. There's a point at which Hugh Jackman rides an elephant through a street. If you can get past the weirdness of them making a fictional version of a real person who was a pretty bad guy, this is a really fun movie. The musical numbers are lively and exciting. I actually find the story to be really great and emotional. I think the characters are well-written. I am really disappointed that this movie has the reputation that it does, because I do love it and I do think it is worthy of a spot on this list.
Best Song: From Now On
7. Enchanted
Enchanted was an absolutely genius idea. Throwing a super cliché Disney princess, prince, and evil queen into modern-day New York creates a fantastic fish-out-of-water story that is funny, entertaining, and heart-warming. Amy Adams gives it her all as Gisele, and the supporting cast does a great job, too. A Disney fairytale set in New York City is just such a fun concept, and the production team came up with so many great ideas to go along with it. The way Gisele adapts to her life in New York and the way the people in New York adapt to her is just so great. I love this movie. It's so much fun. I will say that the music is not fantastic. There's a few good songs, but this is probably the worst actual musical on this list. However, it's a really good movie, so that doesn't really bother me.
Best Song: That's How You Know
6. Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India
If you guys have never watched a Bollywood movie, I highly recommend this one. Lagaan is an absolutely astonishing epic that really feels unique. This movie is absolutely nuts; it's about a village being unfairly taxed by the occupant British. To stop the British from taxing them, the villagers challenge them to a game of cricket. Along the way, there's romance, action, and...musical numbers. It's a crazy, crazy movie, but it absolutely works. It's so much fun, the characters are so entertaining, the story is bonkers, and the music is really, really catchy. This is a great film.
Best Song: Mitwa
5. The Wizard of Oz
This was a tough one to place, because it's The Wizard of Oz. Like everyone else, I've grown up watching this movie. It is the ultimate American fairy tale and is so influential on basically every piece of film released today. I have so much nostalgia and childhood love for it...but it is a film from 1939, and, watching it in 2025, the age obviously shows. It's still got all of the magic and wonder, but the story is very simple and the production limits of a film from the 30s is obvious. Still, this is a film that has done so much for me and for everyone that has ever been a lover of movies. Even if it doesn't entirely hold up, it's still got great songs, great characters, and a timeless, classic feel to it.
Best Song: Over the Rainbow
4. In the Heights
This was the movie that put Jon M. Chu on my radar. I love Hamilton, so naturally, I was interested in In the Heights because it was Lin-Manuel Miranda's predecessor to it. I absolutely adore this movie. It feels like a classic, feel-good Broadway musical with compelling characters and an emotional story. What really makes this one pop, however, are the musical numbers. Chu directs these big, exciting dance sequences to go along with Miranda's incredible soundtrack, and it just creates this energetic, fun atmosphere that I love to go back to. If you love musicals, or just movies in general, and you haven't seen In the Heights, I highly, highly recommend it.
Best Song: In the Heights
3. Chicago
Chicago is probably the most creative musical movie on this list. It is also the only movie that I think outdoes the musical (an opinion which my grandma, a huge Broadway fan, also shares). Director Rob Marshall takes what seems like a fairly difficult production to adapt to the big screen and transforms it into this incredibly unique blend of cinematic techniques and Broadway showmanship. The musical numbers take place in this hybrid fantasy-reality, which just gives the film so much space to be creative. Pair that with some all-time performances from Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, and John C. Reilly, and you've got one of the great movie musicals of all time.
Best Song: Cell Block Tango
2. Mary Poppins
I feel like Mary Poppins could get a bit of The Wizard of Oz treatment, where it's a classic that I respect tons but don't really feel like holds up now. That is not the case. Mary Poppins is, in every way, still incredible today. Julie Andrews is magnetic in her Oscar-winning performance as the most iconic nanny to ever grace the silver screen. The story presents surprising depth and emotions that many children's films of that era lack. Of course, this is partly due to Walt Disney himself, who just injects this film with an ultimate sense of imagination and wonder. This is a fantastic movie that absolutely holds up and never, ever gets old.
Best Song: Let's Go Fly a Kite
1. Wicked
My favorite movie of the past year has also pretty easily become my favorite movie musical. Wicked is close to perfect in my mind. It is basically everything I wanted it to be. The Broadway show is my second-favorite of all time (behind Phantom of the Opera) and it is the musical that I've always thought would work best as a movie. Oz is obviously such a cinematic place, so a modern movie musical adaptation of Wicked seemed poised for greatness. And it absolutely was. Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, and Jon M. Chu brought this magnificent production to life through great performances, beautiful cinematography, and absolutely electric musical numbers. Wicked's story also works well just on an emotional level as you see Elphaba, this good-natured person who is born with green skin, set on the path to becoming the Wicked Witch of the West. It was just a fantastic film with some of the best musical numbers ever put on screen. I absolutely loved every minute of it and cannot wait for Wicked: For Good.
Best Song: Defying Gravity
コメント